The grandmother of a toddler murdered by Delabole man Matthew Scully-Hicks said the adoptive father should be hanged for his crime.

Last week Scully-Hicks received a life sentence for violently shaking 18-month-old Elsie and striking her head at their home in Cardiff in May 2016, only two weeks after he and his husband Craig formally adopted her.

Fitness instructor Scully-Hicks, who grew up in the north Cornwall village, had subjected Elsie to seven months of assaults and beatings while his company director husband was away on business.

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He took a job as a customer service adviser for British Gas initially then worked as a sales negotiator for estate agents Peter Alan in July.

A stairgate shown in court during the murder trial (Image: PA)

After leaving that company, he gained employment at Working Links in Cardiff and then taught fitness classes at a gym part-time.

Scully-Hicks married Craig in Portugal in August 2012, having already discussed that they would like to have children through adoption.

“We both sat down and talked about our life goals, what we wanted to achieve in the future,” Scully-Hicks said in court. “We were both of the mind that we wanted children, that was something we were able to agree on very early on.”